ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly
Axegård and Flores Stick To The Plan
Press Release / 10.06.2019
“This race and this place is amazing! It is our favourite in the whole Series. We had a plan, we stuck to it and it worked!”, said Fredrik Axegård and Alexander Flores - Team ARK Swimrun(SWE) after finishing as overall winner.
The Isles of Scilly, of the coast of Cornwall in South-west England, is considered as a rare gem. It is an archipelago of islands in the Atlantic with almost every plant in the world, it has the most amount of historical sites per square metre in the UK and it has pristine nature. The Isles of Scilly is a dream destination for an ÖTILLÖ swimrun race. There is no doubt that the Isles of Scilly lives up to ÖTILLÖ's claim of having unique races in unique places!
The 37,2 km race course of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly World Series race is as tough as it gets. The sea was quite calm, however the sea temperature at 14 degrees zaps the energy from the racers during the consecutive long swims with the longest swim being 2 450 metres. Add to that the tidal flow during the race and it becomes a challenge for everyone. The tide changes almost 3, 5 metres during the race. The near perfect weather made it easier than expected but still a very big challenge. The majority of the runs are on technical trails along the beautiful coast lines of the islands.
Several teams had to struggle to make it in time for the three cut offs. Some had to abandon along the way. The top teams pushed each other hard, chasing each other in a tight group all the way to the finish line. The level of competition has real exploded!
UK Triathlon superstar Lucy Gossage raced in her first ÖTILLÖ race, in the mixed category, together with Laurence Hulatt. They finished in 9th place in Mixed. She said it was tougher than she expeced an was very impressed by the organization and the volunteers on the course
At all ÖTILLÖ swimrun World Series events teams race in pairs. Working wisely with your partner is decisive. Using each other’s strengths will push boundaries. The team experience is incomparable and can only be fully understood by those who have practiced it, and is part of why swimrun is growing so fast in popularity.
116 teams of two from 20 different nations travelled to the Isles of Scilly to compete in the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly, a qualifier to the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship in the Swedish archipelago.
The day prior to the race two shorter more accessible race were organised, the ÖTILLÖ Sprint Isles of Scilly and the ÖTILLÖ Experience Isles of Scilly, offering the same flavours as the longer more challenging race but in a smaller format.These races had close to 190 racers registered from a total of 17 nations.
Eight top teams at ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Isles of Scilly qualify to the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship 2019, on 2nd of September 2019 in the Stockholm Archipelago; top 3 men, top 3 mixed, top 2 women.
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